Suspension unit for a helmet

ABSTRACT

A suspension unit is provided which is removably coupleable to a helmet shell to enhance user safety and helmet functionality. The suspension unit includes: a suspension assembly configured to interface with a suspension attachment scheme of the helmet shell; one or more sensors carried by the suspension assembly and arranged to obtain biometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other data; and a control system carried by the suspension assembly, the control system including at least a power source and a communication module, and being operatively coupled to the one or more sensors to obtain the biometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other data and to transmit, via the communication module, a data signal to a computing device or network based at least in part on said data from which to enhance user safety and helmet functionality.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

This disclosure generally relates to suspension units for hard hats andother helmet structures to enhance user safety and helmet functionality,and, more particularly, to suspension units having one or more sensorsarranged to obtain biometric, environmental, location, motion, impactand/or other data from which to enhance user safety and helmetfunctionality.

Description of the Related Art

Helmets and other protectable wearables are often required when workingin areas where there is a potential for injury. Helmets are especiallyrequired to protect the head from hazards such as impact from fallingobjects, scraping or hitting one's head on equipment, or contact withelectrical conductors. Traditional helmet suspension units (alsoreferred to as harnesses) have been designed to extend inside the helmetand be used for spreading the helmet's weight and the force of anyimpact over the top of a user's head.

At least one suspension unit or harness is known which includesbiometric sensors for measuring biometric data of a wearer and anelectrical interface for receiving power from a power source of a matinghelmet structure and for transferring data collected by the suspensionunit to a control unit of the mating helmet structure, as shown anddescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,642,574. Notably, such a suspension unitand helmet structure combination suffers from various drawbacks,including that the suspension unit requires a specialized mating helmetstructure to function and cannot be used with a variety of helmet shellson the market and currently in use in the workforce and elsewhere.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Embodiments described herein provide a suspension unit that is removablycoupleable to a suspension attachment scheme of a conventional helmetshell to enhance user safety and helmet functionality without disruptingor jeopardizing the integrity of the helmet structure or requiringmodifications thereto. In this manner, the suspension unit may serve asa drop-in replacement for conventional suspension units (also referredto as harnesses) of traditional hard hats and other helmet structures(e.g., climbing helmets, bike helmets).

According to one embodiment, a suspension unit removably coupleable to asuspension attachment scheme of a helmet shell to enhance user safetyand helmet functionality may be summarized as including: a suspensionassembly configured to support the helmet shell on a user's head andincluding a head engagement structure and one or more coupling devicesconfigured to interface with the suspension attachment scheme of thehelmet shell to enable removable attachment of the suspension unit tothe helmet shell; one or more sensors carried by the suspension assemblyand arranged to obtain biometric, environmental, location, motion,impact and/or other data; and a control system carried by the suspensionassembly, the control system including at least a power source and acommunication module, and being operatively coupled to the one or moresensors to obtain the biometric, environmental, location, motion, impactand/or other data and to transmit, via the communication module, a datasignal to a computing device or network based at least in part on saidbiometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other datafrom which to enhance user safety and helmet functionality.

The control system carried by the suspension assembly may furtherinclude a processor for processing the biometric, environmental,location, motion and/or other data onboard the suspension unit, and mayfurther include a memory for storing data onboard the suspension unit.In this manner, processing of the data may be completed onboard thesuspension unit and optionally stored in memory onboard the suspensionunit.

The one or more sensors may include at least one of a biometric sensor,an environmental sensor, a location sensor, an orientation sensor, amotion sensor and an impact sensor. In this manner, the sensor(s) may beconfigured to obtain biometric data (e.g., body temperature, heartrate), environmental data (e.g., environmental temperature), userlocation data, user orientation data, user motion data and/or impactdata for subsequent processing from which to enhance user safety orhelmet functionality.

The helmet shell may include a multi-point suspension attachment scheme,and the suspension assembly may include an arrangement of couplingdevices that is configured to interface with said multi-point suspensionattachment scheme. For example, the multi-point suspension attachmentscheme of the helmet shell may be a conventional 4-point or conventional6-point attachment scheme, and the arrangement of coupling devices ofthe suspension assembly may be configured to interface with theconventional 4-point or conventional 6-point attachment scheme of thehelmet shell. In this manner, the suspension unit can attach directly toa wide variety of helmet shells already on the market and in use in theworkforce and elsewhere.

In some instances, the head engagement structure of the suspensionassembly may include a primary loop configured to at least partiallysurround a circumference of a user's head and one or more suspensionstraps coupled to the primary loop to extend over the crown of theuser's head. In this manner, the head engagement structure may reflector resemble a conventional suspension unit or harness.

In some instances, the suspension unit may further include a hapticdevice carried by the suspension assembly and communicatively coupled tothe control system for delivering haptic feedback to a user. Such hapticfeedback may be based at least in part on the data obtained by thesuspension unit during use. For example, the suspension unit may obtainlocation data, orientation data and/or motion data from which it may bedetermined that a user is approaching a hazard or in the path of ahazard and based upon which the user may be provided with a hapticwarning.

In some instances, the suspension assembly may include a control systemenclosure containing at least a portion of the control system, and thecontrol system enclosure may in some instances be malleable, pliable,flexible and/or deformable.

The suspension assembly may further include a fit adjustment assemblyfor adjusting a fit of the head engagement structure (e.g., anadjustable band with ratchet device), and the fit adjustment assemblymay include a housing containing at least a portion of the controlsystem. The power source of the control system and/or the communicationmodule may be contained, for example, in the housing of the fitadjustment assembly.

In some instances, the suspension unit may comprise a plurality ofsensors and at least one of the sensors may be mounted in a first regionof the head engagement structure and at least one of the sensors may bemounted in a second region of the head engagement structure that isdistinct from the first region. Sensors may be positioned, for example,in one or more of the following regions: a brow region; a foreheadregion, a temple region; or a crown region.

The suspension unit may further include a speaker and/or a microphonecarried by the suspension assembly and operatively coupled to thecontrol system from which to enhance user safety or helmetfunctionality. For example, the speaker, when provided, may be used toprovide audible instructions or warnings to the user based at least inpart on data obtained by the suspension unit. As another example, themicrophone, when provided, may be used by the user to provide voicecommands or to provide user input to supplement or modify the datacollected by the suspension unit.

The suspension unit may further include one or more user manipulablecontrols (e.g., switches, buttons) carried by the suspension assemblyand operatively coupled to the control system from which to control ormanipulate aspects of the suspension unit. For example, the suspensionunit may include a power switch or button from which to activate anddeactivate functionality of the suspension unit.

In a particularly advantageous aspect, the suspension unit is providedas a self-contained unit that is readily attachable to the suspensionattachment scheme of a conventional helmet shell and electricallyfunctional apart from the helmet shell. In this manner, the suspensionunit does not need to rely on the helmet shell for power or otheraspects.

According to another embodiment, a system may be summarized asincluding: a helmet shell with a suspension attachment scheme; and asuspension unit removably attachable to the helmet shell via thesuspension attachment scheme. The suspension unit includes: a suspensionassembly having a head engagement structure and one or more couplingdevices configured to interface with the suspension attachment scheme ofthe helmet shell to enable removable attachment of the suspension unitto the helmet shell; one or more sensors carried by the suspensionassembly and arranged to obtain biometric, environmental, location,motion, impact and/or other data; and a control system carried by thesuspension assembly, the control system including at least a powersource and a communication module, and being operatively coupled to theone or more sensors to obtain the biometric, environmental, location,motion, impact and/or other data and to transmit, via the communicationmodule, a data signal based at least in part on said biometric,environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other data to a computingdevice or network from which to enhance user safety and helmetfunctionality.

The system may further include a light-emitting unit removablyattachable to an exterior of the helmet shell, which operates inparallel or tandem with the suspension unit. The light-emitting unit mayinclude: one or more light sources; and a light-emitting unit controlsystem, the light-emitting unit control system communicatively coupled,either directly or via the computing device or network, to the controlsystem of the suspension unit, and being configured to control the lightsources to emit light based at least in part on the data signaltransmitted by the communication module of the control system of thesuspension unit. In this manner, the suspension unit may be used tocollect various data and the light-emitting unit may be illuminatedbased at least in part on said data.

In some instances, the control system of the suspension unit may becommunicatively coupled to the computing device or network via thelight-emitting unit control system. In this manner, data may be obtainedby the suspension unit, transmitted to the light-emitting unit and thentransmitted to the computing device or network for further processing,storage or other action.

In some instances, the light-emitting unit may include one or morelight-emitting unit sensors arranged to obtain environmental, location,motion, impact and/or other data to supplement the data obtained by thesuspension unit. For example, the light-emitting unit may include atemperature and/or humidity sensor from which to obtain environmentaldata in the vicinity of the user, which environmental data may be usedto supplement and/or modify other data (e.g., biometric data) obtainedby the suspension unit.

The light-emitting unit and the suspension unit may be pairable witheach other directly or via the computing device or network to facilitatea transfer of data from the suspension unit to the light-emitting unitand/or a transfer of data from the light-emitting unit to the suspensionunit. In this manner, data may be shared between the distinct devicesand the data obtained from each may be combined as desired.

The suspension unit may be a self-contained unit that is readilyattachable to the suspension attachment scheme of a conventional helmetshell and electrically functional apart from the helmet shell.Similarly, the light-emitting unit may be a self-contained unit that isreadily attachable to the exterior of a conventional helmet shell andelectrically functional apart from the helmet shell. In this manner, thehelmet shell may be a conventional helmet shell that lacks electronicfunctionality and both devices may be readily secured to the helmetshell without jeopardizing its integrity.

According to yet another embodiment, a system for use with a helmetshell having a suspension attachment scheme may be summarized asincluding: a suspension unit removably attachable to an interior of thehelmet shell via the suspension attachment scheme; and a light-emittingunit removably attachable to an exterior of the helmet shell.Advantageously, the suspension unit includes: a suspension assemblyconfigured to support the helmet shell on a user's head and including ahead engagement structure and one or more coupling devices configured tointerface with the suspension attachment scheme of the helmet shell toenable removable attachment of the suspension unit to the helmet shell,one or more sensors carried by the suspension assembly and arranged toobtain biometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or otherdata, and a control system carried by the suspension assembly, thecontrol system including at least a power source and a communicationmodule, and being operatively coupled to the one or more sensors toobtain the biometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/orother data and to transmit, via the communication module, a data signalbased at least in part on said biometric, environmental, location,motion, impact and/or other data to a computing device or network fromwhich to enhance user safety and helmet functionality. Advantageously,the light-emitting unit includes: one or more light sources, and alight-emitting unit control system, the light-emitting unit controlsystem communicatively coupled, either directly or via the computingdevice or network, to the control system of the suspension unit, andbeing configured to control the light sources to emit light based atleast in part on the data signal transmitted by the communication moduleof the control system of the suspension unit. In a particularlyadvantageous aspect, the suspension unit is provided as a self-containedunit that is readily attachable to the suspension attachment scheme of aconventional helmet shell and electrically functional apart from thehelmet shell, and the light-emitting unit is similarly provided as aself-contained unit that is readily attachable to the exterior of aconventional helmet shell and electrically functional apart from thehelmet shell.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional hard hat that is typicalof those worn by workers in the construction industry, including ahelmet shell (shown transparent) and a suspension unit (also referred toas a harness). The illustrated helmet shell is provided as anon-limiting example of the type of helmet shells that may be used inconnection with disclosed embodiments of the suspension units andrelated systems and methods described herein.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a suspension unit, according to oneembodiment, that is removably coupleable to a suspension attachmentscheme of a helmet shell to enhance user safety and helmetfunctionality, such as, for example, the conventional helmet shell shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a suspension unit, according to anotherembodiment, that is removably coupleable to a suspension attachmentscheme of a helmet shell to enhance user safety and helmetfunctionality, such as, for example, the conventional helmet shell shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a light-emitting unit, which may be usedin combination with embodiments of the suspension units disclosed hereinto provide additional functionality.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the light-emitting unit of FIG. 4secured to a conventional helmet shell.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a networked environment that includes aConfigurable Site Safety (“CSS”) system as well as various devicesand/or computing systems associated with the CSS system, with one ormore managing users of the CSS system, and with one or more non-managingusers of the CSS system, as described in the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a computing system suitable forexecuting an embodiment of a system that performs at least sometechniques described in the present disclosure, as well as variousdevices and/or computing systems connected thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, certain specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of various disclosedembodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the relevant art willrecognize that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of thesespecific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devicesassociated with suspension units or harnesses for helmets not be shownor described in detail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring descriptions ofthe embodiments.

Unless the context requires otherwise, throughout the specification andclaims which follow, the word “comprise” and variations thereof, suchas, “comprises” and “comprising” are to be construed in an open,inclusive sense, that is as “including, but not limited to.”

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or“in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, theparticular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined inany suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

As used in this specification and the appended claims, the singularforms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise. It should also be noted that the term “or”is generally employed in its sense including “and/or” unless the contentclearly dictates otherwise.

Embodiments described herein provide a suspension unit that is removablycoupleable to a suspension attachment scheme of a conventional helmetshell to enhance user safety and helmet functionality without disruptingor jeopardizing the integrity of the helmet structure or requiringmodifications thereto. In this manner, the suspension unit may serve asa drop-in replacement for a conventional suspension unit (also referredto as a harness) of traditional hard hats and other helmet structures(e.g., climbing helmets, bike helmets).

As an example, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional hard hat10 that is typical of those worn by workers in the constructionindustry, including a helmet shell 12 (shown transparent) and asuspension unit 14 (also referred to as a harness). Advantageously, auser may simply remove the conventional suspension unit 14 shown in FIG.1 by disconnecting the suspension unit 14 from the conventionalsuspension attachment scheme 16 (a 4-point attachment scheme shown)provided in the helmet shell 12, and may replace it with embodiments ofthe suspension units disclosed herein to provide enhanced functionality.

FIG. 2 shows one example embodiment of a suspension unit 20 that isremovably coupleable to the suspension attachment scheme 16 of aconventional helmet shell 12 (FIG. 1) to enhance user safety and helmetfunctionality. The suspension unit 20 includes a suspension assembly 22having a head engagement structure 24 and one or more coupling devices26 configured to interface with the suspension attachment scheme 16 ofthe conventional helmet shell 12 to enable removable attachment of thesuspension unit 20 to the helmet shell 12. The head engagement structure24 of the suspension assembly 22 may include, for example, a primaryloop 28 configured to at least partially surround a circumference of auser's head and one or more suspension straps 30 coupled to the primaryloop 28 to extend over the crown of the user's head. In this manner, thehead engagement structure 24 may reflect or resemble a conventionalsuspension unit or harness. In addition, the coupling devices 26 may beconfigured to interface with a multi-point suspension attachment scheme16 of the conventional helmet shell 12. For example, the multi-pointsuspension attachment scheme of the helmet shell 12 may be aconventional 4-point attachment scheme (FIG. 1) or conventional 6-pointattachment scheme, and the arrangement of coupling devices 26 of thesuspension assembly 22 may be configured to interface with theconventional 4-point or conventional 6-point attachment scheme 16 of thehelmet shell 12. As such, the suspension unit 20 can attach directly toa wide variety of helmet shells already on the market and in use in theworkforce and elsewhere.

Advantageously, the suspension unit 20 further includes one or moresensors 40 a-d (collectively 40) carried by the suspension assembly 22and arranged to obtain biometric, environmental, location, motion,impact and/or other data. For example, and without limitation, thesuspension unit 20 may include a biometric sensor 40 a configured tocollect biometric data, an environmental sensor 40 b configured tocollect environmental data, a location sensor 40 c configured to collectlocation data, and/or a motion sensor 40 d configured to collect motiondata. Other sensors may include, without limitation, an orientationsensor and an impact sensor. In this manner, the sensor(s) 40 may beconfigured to obtain biometric data (e.g., body temperature, heartrate), environmental data (e.g., environmental temperature), userlocation data, user orientation data, user motion data and/or impactdata for subsequent processing from which to enhance user safety orhelmet functionality. At least one of the sensors may be mounted in afirst region of the head engagement structure 24 and at least one of thesensors may be mounted in a second region of the head engagementstructure 24 that is distinct from the first region. Sensors may bepositioned, for example, in one or more of the following regions: a browregion; a forehead region, a temple region; or a crown region.

The suspension unit 20 further includes a control system 50 carried bythe suspension assembly 22, the control system 50 including at least apower source 52 and a communication module 54, and being operativelycoupled to the one or more sensors 40 a-d to obtain the biometric,environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other data and totransmit, via the communication module 54, a data signal to a computingdevice (e.g., smartphone) or network based at least in part on saidbiometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other datafrom which to enhance user safety and helmet functionality. The controlsystem 50 carried by the suspension assembly 22 may further include aprocessor 56 for processing the biometric, environmental, location,motion and/or other data onboard the suspension unit 20, and may furtherinclude a memory 58 for storing data onboard the suspension unit 20. Inthis manner, processing of the data may be completed onboard thesuspension unit 20 and optionally stored in memory 58 onboard thesuspension unit 20.

In some instances, the suspension unit 20 may further include a hapticdevice 60 carried by the suspension assembly 22 and communicativelycoupled to the control system 50 for delivering haptic feedback to auser. Such haptic feedback may be based at least in part on the dataobtained by the suspension unit 20 during use. For example, thesuspension unit 20 may obtain location data, orientation data and/ormotion data from which it may be determined that a user is approaching ahazard or in the path of a hazard and based upon which the user may beprovided with a haptic warning.

The suspension assembly 22 may further include a fit adjustment assembly32 for adjusting a fit of the head engagement structure (e.g., anadjustable band with ratchet device), and the fit adjustment assembly 32may include a housing 34 containing at least a portion of the controlsystem 50. The power source 52 of the control system 50 and/or thecommunication module 54 may be contained, for example, in the housing 34of the fit adjustment assembly 32.

In some instances, the suspension assembly 22 may include a controlsystem enclosure containing at least a portion of the control system 50,and the control system enclosure may in some instances be malleable,pliable, flexible and/or deformable.

The suspension unit 20 may further include a speaker 62 and/or amicrophone 64 carried by the suspension assembly and operatively coupledto the control system 50 from which to enhance user safety or helmetfunctionality. For example, the speaker 62, when provided, may be usedto provide audible instructions or warnings to the user based at leastin part on data obtained by the suspension unit 20. As another example,the microphone 64 may be used by the user to provide voice commands orto provide user input to supplement or modify the data collected by thesuspension unit 20.

The suspension unit 20 may further include one or more user manipulablecontrols 66 (e.g., switches, buttons) carried by the suspension assembly22 and operatively coupled to the control system 50 from which tocontrol or manipulate aspects of the suspension unit 20. For example,the suspension unit 20 may include a power switch or button from whichto activate and deactivate functionality of the suspension unit 20.

In a particularly advantageous aspect, the suspension unit 20 isprovided as a self-contained unit that is readily attachable to thesuspension attachment scheme 16 of a conventional helmet shell 12(FIG. 1) and electrically functional apart from the helmet shell 12. Inthis manner, the suspension unit 20 does not need to rely on the helmetshell 12 for power or other aspects.

FIG. 3 shows another example embodiment of a suspension unit 20′ havingsimilar features and functionality to the embodiment of the suspensionunit 20 shown in FIG. 2.

For example, the suspension unit 20′ shown in FIG. 3 includes asuspension assembly 22′ having a head engagement structure 24′ and oneor more coupling devices 26′ configured to interface with the suspensionattachment scheme 16 of a conventional helmet shell 12 (FIG. 1) toenable removable attachment of the suspension unit 20′ to the helmetshell 12. The head engagement structure 24′ of the suspension assembly22′ may include, for example, a primary loop 28′ configured to at leastpartially surround and engage a circumference of a user's head.

The suspension unit 20′ further includes one or more sensors 40 a′-d′(collectively 40′) carried by the suspension assembly 22′ and arrangedto obtain biometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/orother data. For example, and without limitation, the suspension unit 20′may include a biometric sensor 40 a′ configured to collect biometricdata, an environmental sensor 40 b′ configured to collect environmentaldata, a location sensor 40 c′ configured to collect location data,and/or a motion sensor 40 d′ configured to collect motion data. Othersensors may include, without limitation, an orientation sensor and animpact sensor. In this manner, the sensor(s) 40′ may be configured toobtain biometric data (e.g., body temperature, heart rate),environmental data (e.g., environmental temperature), user locationdata, user orientation data, user motion data and/or impact data forsubsequent processing from which to enhance user safety or helmetfunctionality as described in more detail elsewhere. The sensors 40′ maybe positioned, for example, in one or more of the following regions: abrow region; a forehead region, a temple region; or a crown region. Asshown in FIG. 3, for example, the sensors 40′ may be positioned acrossthe forehead region of a user. One or more of the sensors 40′ may bepositioned beneath a forehead cushioning element 42′ and, if required,exposed to the user or the surrounding environment via an appropriateaperture. One or more of the sensors 40′ may be positioned on or withinthe forehead cushioning element 42′. The forehead cushioning element 42′may be removably coupled to the primary loop 28′ of the suspensionassembly 22′ to facilitate cleaning thereof and/or servicing orreplacement of the sensors 40′.

The suspension unit 20′ further includes a control system 50′ carried bythe suspension assembly 22′, the control system 50′ including at least apower source 52′ and a communication module 54′, and being operativelycoupled to the one or more sensors 40′ to obtain the biometric,environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other data and totransmit, via the communication module 54′, a data signal to a computingdevice (e.g., smartphone) or network based at least in part on saidbiometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other datafrom which to enhance user safety and helmet functionality. The controlsystem 50′ carried by the suspension assembly 22′ may further include aprocessor 56′ for processing the biometric, environmental, location,motion and/or other data onboard the suspension unit 20′, and mayfurther include a memory 58′ for storing data onboard the suspensionunit 20′. In this manner, processing of the data may be completedonboard the suspension unit 20′ and optionally stored in memory 58′onboard the suspension unit 20′.

In some instances, the suspension unit 20′ may further include a hapticdevice carried by the suspension assembly 22′ and communicativelycoupled to the control system 50′ for delivering haptic feedback to auser. Such haptic feedback may be based at least in part on the dataobtained by the suspension unit 20′ during use. For example, thesuspension unit 20′ may obtain location data, orientation data and/ormotion data from which it may be determined that a user is approaching ahazard or in the path of a hazard and based upon which the user may beprovided with a haptic warning.

The suspension assembly 22′ may further include a fit adjustmentassembly 32′ for adjusting a fit of the head engagement structure (e.g.,an adjustable band with ratchet device), and the fit adjustment assembly32′ may include a housing 34′ containing at least a portion of thecontrol system 50′. The power source 52′ of the control system 50′and/or the communication module 54′ may be contained, for example, inthe housing 34′ of the fit adjustment assembly 32′. In the exampleembodiment of FIG. 3, the communication module 54′ is provided in anarea remote from the fit adjustment assembly 32′.

The suspension unit 20′ may further include a speaker and/or amicrophone carried by the suspension assembly 22′ and operativelycoupled to the control system 50′ from which to enhance user safety orhelmet functionality. For example, the speaker, when provided, may beused to provide audible instructions or warnings to the user based atleast in part on data obtained by the suspension unit 20′. As anotherexample, the microphone may be used by the user to provide voicecommands or to provide user input to supplement or modify the datacollected by the suspension unit 20′.

The suspension unit 20′ may further include one or more user manipulablecontrols (e.g., switches, buttons) carried by the suspension assembly22′ and operatively coupled to the control system 50′ from which tocontrol or manipulate aspects of the suspension unit 20′. For example,the suspension unit 20′ may include a power switch or button from whichto activate and deactivate functionality of the suspension unit 20′.

In a particularly advantageous aspect, the suspension unit 20′ isprovided as a self-contained unit that is readily attachable to thesuspension attachment scheme 16 of a conventional helmet shell 12(FIG. 1) and electrically functional apart from the helmet shell 12. Inthis manner, the suspension unit 20 does not need to rely on the helmetshell 12 for power or other aspects.

Embodiments of the suspension units 20, 20′ described herein may be usedto collect a wide variety of data (e.g., biometric data, environmentaldata, location data, impact data, etc.) associated with a user or theuser's environment from which to enhance user safety or helmetfunctionality. The suspension units 20, 20′ may be paired or otherwisecommunicatively coupled to a smart phone or other computing device tofacilitate or carry out such functional enhancements. For example,suspension units 20, 20′ may be worn by a group of workers on a jobsiteand biometric data, such as body temperature and heartrate, may becollected and transmitted to an associated computing device formonitoring the health and wellbeing of said workers, and, if needed, thetaking of action to address any irregularities. As another example,location data may be collected and transmitted to an associatedcomputing device for monitoring the location of said workers from whichto enhance safety and jobsite compliance.

Although the aforementioned suspension units 20, 20′ may be used tocollect data without assistance from other sensing devices orapparatuses, in some instances, the suspension units 20, 20′ may operatein conjunction with other sensing devices or apparatuses to provideadditional functionality. For example, according to one embodiment, asystem may be provided which includes one of the aforementionedsuspension units 20, 20′ and a light-emitting unit 70 removablyattachable to an exterior of the conventional helmet shell 12, whichoperates in parallel or tandem with said suspension unit 20, 20′. Anexample embodiment of such a light-emitting unit 70 is shown in FIG. 4.FIG. 5 shows the light-emitting unit 70 removably secured to aconventional helmet shell 12′ similar to the conventional helmet shell12 shown in FIG. 1.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the light-emitting unit 70 may include,for example: one or more light sources 72; and a light-emitting unitcontrol system 74, the light-emitting unit control system 74communicatively coupled, either directly or via the computing device ornetwork, to the control system 50 of the suspension unit 20, 20′, andbeing configured to control the light sources 72 to emit light based atleast in part on the data signal transmitted by the communication module54 of the control system 50 of the suspension unit 20, 20′. In thismanner, the suspension unit 20, 20′ may be used to collect various dataand the light-emitting unit 70 may be illuminated based at least in parton said data.

In some instances, the control system 50 of the suspension unit 20, 20′may be communicatively coupled to the computing device or network viathe light-emitting unit control system 74. In this manner, data mayobtained by the suspension unit 20, 20′, transmitted to thelight-emitting unit 70 and then transmitted to the computing device ornetwork for further processing, storage or other action.

In some instances, the light-emitting unit 70 may include one or morelight-emitting unit sensors (not shown) arranged to obtainenvironmental, location, motion, impact and/or other data to supplementdata obtained by the suspension unit 20, 20′. For example, thelight-emitting unit 70 may include a temperature and/or humidity sensorfrom which to obtain environmental data in the vicinity of the user,which environmental data may be used to supplement and/or modify otherdata (e.g., biometric data) obtained by the suspension unit 20, 20′.

The light-emitting unit 70 and the suspension unit 20, 20′ may bepairable with each other directly or via the computing device or networkto facilitate a transfer of data from the suspension unit 20, 20′ to thelight-emitting unit 70 and/or a transfer of data from the light-emittingunit 70 to the suspension unit 20, 20′. In this manner, data may beshared between these distinct devices and the data obtained from eachmay be combined or shared as desired.

Again, the suspension unit 20, 20′ may be a self-contained unit that isreadily attachable to the suspension attachment scheme 16 of aconventional helmet shell and electrically functional apart from thehelmet shell 16. Similarly, the light-emitting unit 70 may be aself-contained unit that is readily attachable to the exterior of aconventional helmet shell 16 and electrically functional apart from thehelmet shell 16.

Additional features (e.g., power supply 76, control element(s) 78) ofthe light-emitting unit 70 depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5 may include thoseshown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,529,082, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety. The light-emitting unit 70 may beparticularly well adapted to illuminate people at risk, such as, forexample, workers in the construction industry, mining industry or otherhazardous or hostile environments. The light-emitting unit 70 mayprovide enhanced illumination around the user to enable the completionof tasks that would otherwise be hindered by low or poor lightingconditions. In some embodiments, the light-emitting unit 70 provides acontinuous or generally continuous ring or halo of light around a user'shead that can be seen from an extended distance (e.g., up to andexceeding one-quarter mile) and from a particularly wide range ofdirections, such as, for example, from an overhead direction. Thelight-emitting unit 70 may also provide substantial illumination withinand outside the user's immediate field of view to illuminate areaswithin the user's general workspace.

The light-emitting unit 70 described herein may be advantageouslyattachable to headgear, such as, for example, the conventional hard hat12, 12′ shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, in a removable manner. For this purpose,the light-emitting unit 70 may include a plurality of resilientengagement elements 80 around the inner periphery of the light-emittingunit 70 to selectively engage the hard hat 12, 12′ as the user urges thelight-emitting unit 70 onto the hard hat 12, 12′.

Although the suspension units 20, 20′ and light-emitting units 70disclosed herein are described in the context of attaching to headgearin the form of a conventional hard hat 12, 12′ (FIGS. 1 and 5), it willbe appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the relevant art that thesuspension units 20, 20′ and light-emitting units 70 and aspects thereofmay applied to a wide variety of headgear, including, for example,protective helmets for sports such as bicycling, skiing and football,hats or other headgear. Other examples include, without limitation,firefighter helmets, miner helmets, logging helmets, welder and foundryworker helmets, military helmets and other protective helmets orheadgear. In addition, it will also be appreciated that the suspensionunits 20, 20′ and light-emitting units 70 and aspects thereof may be maybe incorporated or integrated into headgear, rather than being removablyattachable thereto.

It is further appreciated that the suspension units 20, 20′ andlight-emitting units 70 and aspects thereof may be may be used inconnection with various information and control systems to provideenhanced functionality.

As an example, FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a networked environment100 that includes a Configurable Site Safety (“CSS”) System 110, gatewaybase stations 150, proximity beacons 160, a site management computingsystem 170, worker client devices 180, and a plurality of hard hatdevices 190 (suspension units 20, 20′ and light-emitting units 70)associated with a plurality of workers. The site management computingsystem, worker client devices, and gateway base stations are eachcommunicatively coupled to the CSS system 110 via one or moreintervening networks 101. In addition, the gateway base stations 150 arecommunicatively coupled to the hard hat devices and proximity beacons,such as via direct wireless links 102 and chipsets 154, 164 and 194,respectively, or by other wireless communication devices, includingother short-range radio devices. In the illustrated embodiment, eachchipset 154, 164 and 194 may respectively include a BLE chipset, one ormore transceivers, sensor chipsets, and other component chipsets. Eachof the gateway base stations, proximity beacons and hard hat devicesalso respectively include GPS chipsets 156, 166, and 196, fordetermining a geographical location of the respective device. Thegateway base stations further include a networked data connection 158,and in certain implementations, each of the hard hat devices may linkdirectly to one or more computer networks (e.g., the Internet) using anyappropriate high-speed data mobile wireless communication methods,components and/or protocols. Each of the hard hat devices 190 (e.g.,suspension units 20, 20′ and light-emitting units 70) additionallyincludes one or more sensors 192, such as one or more biometric sensors,environmental sensors, location sensors, orientation sensors, motionsensors and/or impact sensors, and may further include additionalauditory or haptic signaling components, as described elsewhere herein.In operation, the gateway base stations 150 receive ID, status andlocation information from each of the respective proximity beacons andhard hat devices, and provide the received information to the sitemanagement computing system, the CSS system, or both. In variousimplementations, the frequency with which the information for each ofthe proximity beacons and hard hat devices are updated may be configuredappropriately.

Although not illustrated in the example embodiment of FIG. 6, it isappreciated that each hard hat device 190 may be communicatively coupledto one or more other hard hat devices 190 to facilitate inter-devicecommunications and other functionality described herein.

In the depicted implementation, the CSS system 110 includes a useraccount manager 112, a device manager 114, a data analysis manager 116,and a worksite manager 118. In addition, the CSS system includes anApplication Program Interface (“API”) 120 and a Graphical User Interface(“GUI”) 122. The CSS system is communicatively coupled (locally orremotely) to storage facility 130, which includes historical informationdatabase 132, user information database 134, and worksite informationdatabase 136. In certain implementations, the storage facility 130 maybe incorporated within or otherwise directly operated by the CSS system;in other implementations, some or all of the functionality provided bythe storage facility may be provided by one or more third-partynetwork-accessible storage service providers.

The interactions of the CSS system 110 with the site managementcomputing system 170 and worker client devices 180 may occur in variousways, such as in an interactive manner via a graphical user interface122 that is provided by the CSS system to users of the computing systemand client devices via at least some Web pages of a CSS system Web site.Information provided by the Web site may also be provided in aprogrammatic manner by one or more client software applications via theApplication Program Interface (“API”) 120 provided by the CSS systemthat allows computing systems and/or programs to invoke suchfunctionality programmatically, such as using Web services or othernetwork communication protocols. In the illustrated implementation,various interactions between the CSS system and the site managementcomputing system 170 and worker client devices 180 may be performedusing a web browser (not shown) or CSS application 172 or 182, each ofwhich may respectively be executing on the associated computing systemor client device. As used herein, either or both of the site managementcomputing system 170 and worker client devices 180 may be fixed ormobile, and may include instances of various computing devices such as,without limitation, desktop or other computers (e.g., tablets, slates,etc.), database servers, network storage devices and other networkdevices, smart phones and other cell phones, smart watches or otherwearable devices, consumer electronics, Internet appliances, and variousother consumer products that include appropriate communicationcapabilities.

In the depicted networked environment 100 of FIG. 6, the network 101 isa publicly accessible network of linked networks, possibly operated byvarious distinct parties, such as the Internet. In otherimplementations, the network 101 may have other forms. For example, thenetwork 101 may instead be a private network, such as a corporatenetwork that is wholly or partially inaccessible to non-privilegedusers. In still other implementations, the network 101 may include bothprivate and public networks, with one or more of the private networkshaving access to and/or from one or more of the public networks.Furthermore, the network 101 may include various types of wired and/orwireless networks in various situations. In addition, in thisillustrated example of FIG. 6, users may utilize client computingsystems and/or other client devices to interact with the CSS system 110to obtain various described functionality via the network 101, and indoing so may provide various types of information to the CSS system 110.Moreover, in certain implementations, the various users and providers ofthe networked environment 100 may interact with the CSS system and/orone or more other users and providers using an optional private ordedicated connection, such as one of dedicated connections 102.

The CSS system 110 may thus provide a robust platform from which toprovide functionality that relies at least in part on data obtained fromthe hard hat devices 190 described herein, in particular, the suspensionunits 20, 20′.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating component-level functionalityprovided by a plurality of electronic circuits that, when in combinedoperation, are suitable for performing and configured to perform atleast some of the techniques described herein. In the particularimplementation depicted, the plurality of electronic circuits is atleast partially housed within a server computing system 300 executing animplementation of a CSS system 340. The server computing system 300includes one or more central processing units (“CPU”) or otherprocessors 305, various input/output (“I/O”) components 310, storage320, and memory 350, with the illustrated I/O components including adisplay 311, a network connection 312, a computer-readable media drive313, and other I/O devices 315 (e.g., keyboards, mice or other pointingdevices, microphones, speakers, GPS receivers, etc.). The servercomputing system 300 and CSS system 340 may communicate with othercomputing systems via one or more networks 399 (e.g., the Internet, oneor more cellular telephone networks, etc.), such as user computingsystems 360, worker client devices 370, gateway base stations 380, andother computing systems 390. Some or all of the user computing systems360 and other computing systems 390 may similarly include some or all ofthe types of components illustrated for server computing system 300(e.g., to have a CSS system client application 369 executing in memory367 of a user computing system 360 in a manner analogous to CSS system340 in memory 350).

In the illustrated embodiment, an embodiment of the CSS system 340executes in memory 350 in order to perform at least some of thedescribed techniques, such as by using the processor(s) 305 to executesoftware instructions of the system 340 in a manner that configures theprocessor(s) 305 and computing system 300 to perform automatedoperations that implement those described techniques. As part of suchautomated operations, the CSS system 340 and/or other optional programsor modules 349 executing in memory 330 may store and/or retrieve varioustypes of data, including in the example database data structures ofstorage 320. In this example, the data used may include various types ofuser information in database (“DB”) 322, various types of historicalinformation (such as hard hat device tracking information) in DB 324,various types of worksite information in DB 326, and/or various types ofadditional information 328, such as various analytical informationrelated to one or more devices or worksites associated with the CSSsystem.

It will be appreciated that computing system 300 other systems anddevices included within FIG. 7 are merely illustrative and are notintended to limit the scope of embodiments of the present invention. Thesystems and/or devices may instead each include multiple interactingcomputing systems or devices, and may be connected to other devices thatare not specifically illustrated, including via Bluetooth communicationor other direct communication, through one or more networks such as theInternet, via the Web, or via one or more private networks (e.g., mobilecommunication networks, etc.). More generally, a device or othercomputing system may comprise any combination of hardware that mayinteract and perform the described types of functionality, optionallywhen programmed or otherwise configured with particular softwareinstructions and/or data structures, including without limitationdesktop or other computers (e.g., tablets, slates, etc.), databaseservers, network storage devices and other network devices, smart phonesand other cell phones, consumer electronics, wearable devices, biometricmonitoring devices, Internet appliances, and various other consumerproducts that include appropriate communication capabilities. Inaddition, the functionality provided by the illustrated CSS system 340may in some embodiments be distributed in various modules. Similarly, insome embodiments, some of the functionality of the CSS system 340 maynot be provided and/or other additional functionality may be available.In addition, in certain implementations various functionality of the CSSsystem may be provided by third-party partners of an operator of the CSSsystem. For example, data collected by the CSS system may be provided toa third party for analysis and/or metric generation.

It will also be appreciated that, while various items are illustrated asbeing stored in memory or on storage while being used, these items orportions of them may be transferred between memory and other storagedevices for purposes of memory management and data integrity.Alternatively, in other embodiments some or all of the software modulesand/or systems may execute in memory on another device and communicatewith the illustrated computing systems via inter-computer communication.Thus, in some embodiments, some or all of the described techniques maybe performed by hardware means that include one or more processorsand/or memory and/or storage when configured by one or more softwareprograms (e.g., the CSS system 340 and/or CSS client software executingon user computing systems 360 and/or worker client devices 370) and/ordata structures, such as by execution of software instructions of theone or more software programs and/or by storage of such softwareinstructions and/or data structures. Furthermore, in some embodiments,some or all of the systems and/or modules may be implemented or providedin other manners, such as by consisting of one or more means that areimplemented at least partially in firmware and/or hardware (e.g., ratherthan as a means implemented in whole or in part by software instructionsthat configure a particular CPU or other processor), including, but notlimited to, one or more application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs), standard integrated circuits, controllers (e.g., by executingappropriate instructions, and including microcontrollers and/or embeddedcontrollers), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), complexprogrammable logic devices (CPLDs), etc. Some or all of the modules,systems and data structures may also be stored (e.g., as softwareinstructions or structured data) on a non-transitory computer-readablestorage mediums, such as a hard disk or flash drive or othernon-volatile storage device, volatile or non-volatile memory (e.g., RAMor flash RAM), a network storage device, or a portable media article(e.g., a DVD disk, a CD disk, an optical disk, a flash memory device,etc.) to be read by an appropriate drive or via an appropriateconnection. The systems, modules and data structures may also in someembodiments be transmitted via generated data signals (e.g., as part ofa carrier wave or other analog or digital propagated signal) on avariety of computer-readable transmission mediums, includingwireless-based and wired/cable-based mediums, and may take a variety offorms (e.g., as part of a single or multiplexed analog signal, or asmultiple discrete digital packets or frames). Such computer programproducts may also take other forms in other embodiments. Accordingly,embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced with othercomputer system configurations.

It is appreciated that embodiments of the suspension units 20, 20′described herein may be used to collect a wide variety of data fromwhich to improve safety or to provide other functionality, and that thesuspension units 20, 20′ may be readily deployed and installed inconventional helmet shells with ease. None limiting examples includesensing biometric information of wearers and monitoring the same forabnormalities in order to take action as needed and sensing impactevents from which to generate alarms or alerts for taking action toassess and treat any resulting injuries as needed.

U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/740,776, filed Oct. 3, 2018,is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety.

Moreover, it is appreciated that features and aspects of the variousembodiments described above can be combined to provide furtherembodiments. These and other changes can be made to the embodiments inlight of the above-detailed description. In general, in the followingclaims, the terms used should not be construed to limit the claims tothe specific embodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims,but should be construed to include all possible embodiments along withthe full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

1. A suspension unit removably coupleable to a suspension attachmentscheme of a helmet shell to enhance user safety and helmetfunctionality, the suspension unit comprising: a suspension assemblyconfigured to support the helmet shell on a user's head and including ahead engagement structure and one or more coupling devices configured tointerface with the suspension attachment scheme of the helmet shell toenable removable attachment of the suspension unit to the helmet shell;one or more sensors carried by the suspension assembly and arranged toobtain biometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or otherdata; and a control system carried by the suspension assembly, thecontrol system including at least a power source and a communicationmodule, and being operatively coupled to the one or more sensors toobtain the biometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/orother data and to transmit, via the communication module, a data signalto a computing device or network based at least in part on saidbiometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other datafrom which to enhance user safety and helmet functionality.
 2. Thesuspension unit of claim 1, wherein the control system carried by thesuspension assembly further comprises a processor for processing thebiometric, environmental, location, motion and/or other data onboard thesuspension unit.
 3. The suspension unit of claim 1, wherein the controlsystem carried by the suspension assembly further comprises a memory forstoring data onboard the suspension unit.
 4. The suspension unit ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more sensors include at least one of abiometric sensor, an environmental sensor, a location sensor, anorientation sensor, a motion sensor and an impact sensor.
 5. Thesuspension unit of claim 1, wherein the helmet shell includes amulti-point suspension attachment scheme, and wherein the suspensionassembly includes an arrangement of coupling devices that is configuredto interface with the multi-point suspension attachment scheme.
 6. Thesuspension unit of claim 5 wherein the multi-point suspension attachmentscheme of the helmet shell is a conventional 4-point or conventional6-point attachment scheme, and wherein the arrangement of couplingdevices of the suspension assembly is configured to interface with theconventional 4-point or conventional 6-point attachment scheme of thehelmet shell.
 7. The suspension unit of claim 1, wherein the headengagement structure of the suspension assembly includes a primary loopconfigured to at least partially surround a circumference of a user'shead and one or more suspension straps coupled to the primary loop toextend over the crown of the user's head.
 8. The suspension unit ofclaim 1, further comprising: a haptic device carried by the suspensionassembly and communicatively coupled to the control system fordelivering haptic feedback to a user.
 9. The suspension unit of claim 1,wherein the suspension assembly includes a control system enclosurecontaining at least a portion of the control system.
 10. The suspensionunit of claim 1, wherein the control system enclosure is malleable,pliable, flexible and/or deformable.
 11. The suspension unit of claim 1,wherein the suspension assembly further includes a fit adjustmentassembly for adjusting a fit of the head engagement structure, andwherein the fit adjustment assembly includes a housing containing atleast a portion of the control system.
 12. The suspension unit of claim11, wherein at least the power source of the control system is containedin the housing of the fit adjustment assembly.
 13. The suspension unitof claim 11, wherein at least the communication module of the controlsystem is contained in the housing of the fit adjustment assembly. 14.The suspension unit of claim 1, wherein the suspension unit comprises aplurality of sensors and at least one of the sensors is mounted in afirst region of the head engagement structure and at least one of thesensors is mounted in a second region of the head engagement structurethat is distinct from the first region.
 15. The suspension unit of claim1, wherein the suspension unit comprises a plurality of sensors and atleast one of the sensors is positioned in one of the following regions:a brow region; a forehead region, a temple region; or a crown region.16. The suspension unit of claim 1, further comprising a speaker and/ora microphone carried by the suspension assembly and operatively coupledto the control system.
 17. The suspension unit of claim 1, furthercomprising one or more user manipulable controls carried by thesuspension assembly and operatively coupled to the control system. 18.The suspension unit of claim 1, wherein the suspension unit is aself-contained unit that is readily attachable to the suspensionattachment scheme of the helmet shell and electrically functional apartfrom the helmet shell.
 19. A system, comprising: a helmet shell with asuspension attachment scheme; and a suspension unit removably attachableto the helmet shell via the suspension attachment scheme, the suspensionunit including: a suspension assembly configured to support the helmetshell on a user's head and including a head engagement structure and oneor more coupling devices configured to interface with the suspensionattachment scheme of the helmet shell to enable removable attachment ofthe suspension unit to the helmet shell; one or more sensors carried bythe suspension assembly and arranged to obtain biometric, environmental,location, motion, impact and/or other data; and a control system carriedby the suspension assembly, the control system including at least apower source and a communication module, and being operatively coupledto the one or more sensors to obtain the biometric, environmental,location, motion, impact and/or other data and to transmit, via thecommunication module, a data signal based at least in part on saidbiometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other data toa computing device or network from which to enhance user safety andhelmet functionality.
 20. The system of claim 19, further comprising: alight-emitting unit removably attachable to an exterior of the helmetshell, the light-emitting unit including: one or more light sources; anda light-emitting unit control system, the light-emitting unit controlsystem communicatively coupled, either directly or via the computingdevice or network, to the control system of the suspension unit, andbeing configured to control the light sources to emit light based atleast in part on the data signal transmitted by the communication moduleof the control system of the suspension unit.
 21. The system of claim20, wherein the control system of the suspension unit is communicativelycoupled to the computing device or network via the light-emitting unitcontrol system.
 22. The system of claim 20, wherein the light-emittingunit includes one or more light-emitting unit sensors arranged to obtainenvironmental, location, motion, impact and/or other data to supplementthe data obtained by the suspension unit.
 23. The system of claim 20,wherein the light-emitting unit and the suspension unit are pairablewith each other directly or via the computing device or network tofacilitate a transfer of data from the suspension unit to thelight-emitting unit and/or a transfer of data from the light-emittingunit to the suspension unit.
 24. The system of claim 19, wherein thesuspension unit is a self-contained unit that is readily attachable tothe suspension attachment scheme of the helmet shell and electricallyfunctional apart from the helmet shell.
 25. A system for use with ahelmet shell having a suspension attachment scheme, the systemcomprising: a suspension unit removably attachable to an interior of thehelmet shell via the suspension attachment scheme, the suspension unitincluding: a suspension assembly configured to support the helmet shellon a user's head and including a head engagement structure and one ormore coupling devices configured to interface with the suspensionattachment scheme of the helmet shell to enable removable attachment ofthe suspension unit to the helmet shell, one or more sensors carried bythe suspension assembly and arranged to obtain biometric, environmental,location, motion, impact and/or other data, and a control system carriedby the suspension assembly, the control system including at least apower source and a communication module, and being operatively coupledto the one or more sensors to obtain the biometric, environmental,location, motion, impact and/or other data and to transmit, via thecommunication module, a data signal based at least in part on saidbiometric, environmental, location, motion, impact and/or other data toa computing device or network from which to enhance user safety andhelmet functionality; and a light-emitting unit removably attachable toan exterior of the helmet shell, the light-emitting unit including: oneor more light sources, and a light-emitting unit control system, thelight-emitting unit control system communicatively coupled, eitherdirectly or via the computing device or network, to the control systemof the suspension unit, and being configured to control the lightsources to emit light based at least in part on the data signaltransmitted by the communication module of the control system of thesuspension unit.
 26. The system of claim 25, wherein the suspension unitis a self-contained unit that is readily attachable to the suspensionattachment scheme of the helmet shell and electrically functional apartfrom the helmet shell.
 27. The system of claim 25, wherein thelight-emitting unit is a self-contained unit that is readily attachableto the exterior of the helmet shell and electrically functional apartfrom the helmet shell.